ELIJAH: ANOTHER OBEDIAH

Presumably it was Obediah who wrote the little Old Testament book that bears his name.

He wrote concerning the fall of Jerusalem that occurred in 586 BC and speaks prophetically of Israel’s return from Babylonian exile. Read it … it’s the shortest of the minor prophets, just one chapter, containing only twenty-one verses.

Three hundred years prior, there was another Obediah. This Obediah was “in charge of (Ahab’s) palace” (1 Kings 18:3). He was a servant and steward to the evil king and queen.

He worked for them, but he wasn’t like them.

Obediah “greatly feared the Lord” (1 Kings 18:3). When Jezebel sought to “slaughtered the Lord’s prophets” (1 Kings 18:4), Obediah proved to be a quiet hero. In the dead of night, undetected by the king or queen, and at great personal risk and great personal expense, Obediah “took a hundred prophets and hid them, fifty men to a cave, and provided them with food and water” (1 Kings 18:4)

We’ll soon learn that Elijah had an epic mountaintop showdown with his spiritual enemy, and in a most dramatic fashion, became a national hero! Not all heroes are so public. Not all heroes call upon God to rain fire from Heaven. Unlike Elijah, Obediah was a quiet hero.

Consider the tension that Obediah navigated in his personal and professional life. He served a wicked king and queen he couldn’t respect or support. He was constantly surrounded by evil, but he continued to serve in the position to which God appointed him. He didn’t desert his post or disown his faith. He served. Quietly. Faithfully.

Obediah wasn’t a king. He wasn’t a rich landowner. Nor was he a prophet or the son of a prophet. He was just a faithful layman. A common man, but an uncommon hero. He did what was right even when no one was there to applaud.

If you are reading this humble rag, you’re probably not a king, the CEO of a giant conglomerate, or the pastor of a mega-church. You’re you… just you.

And you’ve got the perfect pedigree to become a hero… a servant of God who does what is right, even when no one notices.

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).